Dogfight

It’s November 21, 1963. On the eve of their deployment to a small but growing conflict in Southeast Asia, three young Marines set out for one final boys’ night of debauchery, partying and maybe a little trouble. But when Corporal Eddie Birdlace meets Rose, an awkward and idealistic waitress he enlists to win a cruel bet with his fellow recruits, she rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of compassion.

Reviews

“Pasek and Paul are inarguably gifted composers who write inarguably elegant songs. Dogfight is intriguing and occasionally brilliant chamber musical from soulful young composers…a production to remember and celebrate, as well as the announcement of several major talents: its composers, certainly. One senses they’re just getting started, and they’ll have a dog in this fight for many years to come.”

-Scott Brown, New York Magazine

“Dogfight is something special! A sweet show with great songs. An energetic, use-all-the-set show that veers from quiet and intimate to thundering with enough energy you’ll feel it shake the seats. Pasek and Paul show real maturity and variety in their songs. Studded with impressive songs, an unexpected love affair, and a genuine and charming soul.”

-Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

“If I were a religious man, I’d have gotten down on my knees and offered a prayer of heavenly thanks after seeing the wholly wonderful new musical Dogfight As I’m not, that fervent thank-you goes instead to songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Dogfight is superbly crafted, gratifyingly intelligent, richly observant and immensely enjoyable. This is musical theater at its finest. It’s extremely rare these days to encounter new writers working with such confidence and ability. Pasek and Paul’s score is melodically rich and quietly redolent of period while speaking in its own voice, with lyrics of artful simplicity and rigorous craft that reveal volumes. Their achievement demands recognition.”

-Erik Haagensen, Backstage

“Easily the most delicate, surprising, musically satisfying score since Spring Awakening. A tenderly moving score and a heart of gold! Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s wistful and witty score, which makes the requisite rock and folk bows to the period, retains its own nervous, gentle character. You gotta hear Dogfight sing!”

-David Cote, Time Out New York

“Tuneful…Mr. Pasek and Mr. Paul have written a winning low-key date song finding melodic grace in romantic awkwardness. Possesses some of the quirky sentimental appeal that has helped make the musical “Once” an unexpected, Tony-winning success on Broadway…Reminded me of “Saturday Night,” a 1950s musical featuring songs by an untried talent named Stephen Sondheim.”

-Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“Extraordinarily rich and tender. The ambitious and challenging Dogfight sets the bar extremely high for upcoming musicals with a dynamic and textured character driven score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul…excellent material. “Rose” is one of the best-written roles to hit Manhattan’s musical stages in quite some time. The thrill of what it accomplishes as an emotional piece of musical theatre makes it an exhilarating addition to the young season.”

-Michael Dale, Broadway World

“A wonderful little show. Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have accomplished a feat that’s almost unthinkable amid today’s sterile film adaptions: They’ve improved on their source…a rich musical language to elucidate the lives of the characters in ways they could never do by themselves. The musical deeply satisfies”

-Matthew Murray, Talkin’ Broadway

“Dogfight is an intimate little heartbreaker of beguiling freshness. Very good news is the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, making their professional New York debut. In just over two hours, including intermission, they offer 16 fully realized songs that effortlessly move from ’60s bouffant pop to stirring folk pop, from sweet, unselfconscious love songs to the dry, mean staccato rhythms of “Assassins”-era Sondheim…a good and furious heart.”

-Linda Winer, Newsday

“An odd, affecting little musical. The songs here by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are tuneful and engaging. There’s genuine talent here, and a facility for intimate storytelling that serves the romance well. The young writers have crafted a touching small-scale musical. Their best songs here are the quieter, folkier numbers, many of which have a lovely conversational flow to them. Dogfight belongs to a group that includes such shows as Once, Grey Gardens…which take properties that don’t seem like automatic candidates for musical treatment and reinvent them in thoughtful ways.”

“Moody and gorgeous. Wow-worthy ear candy…truly memorable…observant. “Dogfight” seems more likely to yelp and whimper than sing. But sing it does…beautifully, thanks to work by the young composers-lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.”